


Five is Not a Lonely Number

by fallenice



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:17:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/622054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenice/pseuds/fallenice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An exposition about various relationships in Arashi framed in a day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five is Not a Lonely Number

**800  
Fuji Television Building: Arashi Green Room **

Nino finds Ohno sitting at the dressing table, body hunched over and drawing in what looks like his sketchbook. His lips curve into a smile as he notices the mess that is Ohno’s unstyled hair and wonders affectionately if Ohno has forgotten to comb it again. It is at that moment that the older man leans back into his chair to look at his drawing. Absentmindedly, he puts his pen on his lips as he thinks –probably about details to be added to the drawing or how the same drawing will look under a different light - before bending back down to resume his work. He hasn’t noticed Nino yet and the younger man wavers between saying hi and watching.

Watching Ohno draw is an exquisite sort of pleasure in itself.

Nino loves Ohno’s quiet and soothing presence. When he feels insecure and lonely, a quick look in Oh-chan’s direction (whether he notices Nino is watching him or not) always reassures him that yes, someone out there loves him and cares about him. When Nino calls him in the middle of the night, Ohno barely replies and he can’t help but think that he is talking to an answering machine. It is frustrating, but he still does call, time and again, because despite Ohno’s silence, somehow Nino never fails to feel better at the end of his monologues. It must be some kind of Ohno-magic, Nino concludes to himself after putting down the phone one summer night when he was eighteen.

When Nino grabs Ohno’s arms and leans on his shoulder in his usual affectionate way, he smells the sea on him and instead of being reminded of his own seasickness, Nino smells Ohno’s strength underneath his perpetual sleepiness. Kind of like a rock standing against the waves, Nino likes to think, quietly blending in yet strong against the elements, and always, always there.

Most of the time Ohno appears to be in a world of his own, but once in a while - like now - when he is pouring his soul onto a piece of paper, drawing the world as he sees it, the passion bubbles up onto the surface. Ohno sits up again, and Nino can imagine Ohno’s eyes, imaginative and sparkling, as he recalls the original scene’s beauty. Nino lets himself watch quietly a little while longer, letting the sound of pencil on paper fill the room.

 

 

***

 

 

**830  
Fuji Television Building: Arashi Green Room **

Sho enters the Green Room, newspapers in hand, ready to have his breakfast (yogurt!) and his daily dose of what is going on around the world. Instead of his usual morning plan, Sho opens the door to find Nino kneeled between the open legs of Arashi’s leader with his fingers pressing into said leader’s inner thighs. There is no need to guess what Nino has in his mouth.

Sho flushes a deep red and closes the door hastily.

He’ll go buy a cup of coffee from the vending machine five stories down.

“Wasn’t that Sho?” Ohno asks, voice shaky, as the door slams shut. Nino hums a yes and the older man’s toes curl at the sound that vibrates on his cock. Nino’s fingers press harder on his thighs as he takes even more of Ohno in. Leader watches as Nino hollows his cheeks and sucks, feels as Nino’s tongue swirls around his member, and hears the slurping sound that he is quite sure Nino has intentionally made to arouse him further. Nino winks at Ohno playfully when their eyes meet and the latter responds by reaching out and pulling at his hair. Nino takes that as an approval as he steps up his ministrations while Ohno fucks his mouth, coming in a silent gasp not long after.

Nino swallows the bitter liquid in his mouth with a grimace as Ohno, coming back from his high, helps Nino up onto the couch and then on his lap, so that they’re facing each other. Their lips meet in a kiss and the taste of himself on Nino’s lips envelopes his heart with a warmness that he can’t even begin to describe in words. Maybe he can draw it one day, he thinks.

Lips still on Nino’s, Ohno spreads Nino’s legs open, revealing his clearly aroused state before hastily removing Nino’s pants and wrapping his hand around the throbbing erection. Nino moans as Ohno rubs at the tip, spreading the wetness around his cock.

Ohno thinks the moan sounds like the song of the birds.

Nino leans in and lets his head drop onto Ohno’s shoulder as the older man speeds up. They try to stay quiet, fully aware of the unlocked door and the possibility of more people barging in, but they can’t stop the occasional sounds of pleasure escaping. Ohno thinks, at the back of his head while his hands move, about how nice it is that Nino can understand him without needing any words. Most people simply assume that Ohno is just sleepy and do not bother to try to communicate with him but Nino is not like most people. Nino receives the messages that Ohno sends in his silences and sees through his heart when words fail him. They _feel_ their way around each other and Ohno is very glad to have a soulmate like Nino despite how inadequately he expresses it. Nino knows it anyway, he likes to comfort himself. When Ohno finally returns from his mental wanderings, he finds Nino collapsed on his torso and Nino’s fresh come on his hands.

They stay that way for a while, until Nino recovers from his climax. Ohno blinks as Nino crawls out of his lap and reaches for the tissues, feeling Ohno’s eyes on him as he does so. Nino returns quickly and grabs Ohno’s wrist, using the tissues to wipe his hands clean, finger by finger.

“Remember to wash it with soap later,” Nino reminds him gently and Ohno only nods, wondering briefly how he will ever survive without Nino.

 

 

***

 

 

**900-1200  
Fuji Television Studios: VS Arashi Filming **

VS Arashi filming that day is fun as usual – Aiba proudly breaks a part of a prop and wants to bring the piece home as a souvenir, Jun reminds Ohno to talk 45 minutes after the camera starts rolling, Nino calls Aiba an idiot in a costume that belongs in the kids’ section in a departmental store, and Sho still doesn’t reach the top in Cliff Climb.

When the audience claps as they leave the set, all of them, in their own way, want to believe that this can go on forever. They want to believe that they can go on forever as five.

 

 

 

***

 

 

**1200  
Fuji Television Building: Shower facilities **

Sho has calculated in his mind that he has 13 minutes before lunch arrives after filming and thus concludes that he has enough time for a quick shower to freshen himself up. You don’t need to reach the top of the Cliff to feel hot and sticky, he tells himself.

As the hot water runs down Sho’s body, he finds himself recalling the sight he has seen in the morning – Nino in between Ohno’s legs and the latter’s eyes, shining with pleasure as Nino’s mouth worked its magic. He can imagine the way Ohno’s cock filled Nino’s mouth and how Nino’s eyes teared in reflex as he tried to breathe through his nose. He can imagine how Ohno’s mouth parted as Nino’s tongue danced around his cock and how Ohno’s legs spread even wider for Nino to take more of him in.

As the images play in his mind, Sho’s hand creeps downwards to his rapidly hardening erection and he fists it, biting his lips to prevent any sound from escaping. It is then, within the bubble of arousal that is fuelled by his imagination, that Sho feels arms wrapping around his body. He jumps.

“Sho-chan,” the intruder greets, laying his chin on Sho’s shoulder.

“Ohno-kun,” Sho replies in recognition, feeling himself relax instantly – Leader has that effect on people.

“Nino says that we would have included you if you hadn’t run away,” Ohno mumbles, placing his hand on top of Sho’s and guiding Sho’s hand up and down his arousal. The change in rhythm causes Sho to moan before he can swallow the sound back down and he can hear the echoes of the moan coming back to him from the walls of the shower stall. It turns him on even more.

“Ohno,” he whimpers at the pleasure.

It has always struck Sho how Ohno is the complete opposite of him yet they fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle. Sho likes logic, likes things moving from one point to another in a linear sequence. Ohno usually doesn’t even bother with sequences (in fact, the logical progression of things bewilders him sometimes) but he has an instinct that Sho will never have and it brings him to wonderful places and genius solutions that Sho could never think of.

To put it differently, Sho is black and white and Ohno is made of indefinable shades of grey. Ohno is good at everything that Sho is bad at – art and keeping calm being two main traits. Sho, in contrast, is good at everything Ohno is bad at, such as speaking, remembering facts and paying attention. Their innate differences mean that Ohno will never be sick of being in awe of Sho despite Sho’s poor drawings and non-existent sports skills. To Sho, Ohno’s world is like a fascinating fantasy novel, full of things that Sho can never achieve, and that realization gravitates Sho to him like the north pole of the magnet to the south. Like day and night, Sho sometimes thinks, they are diametric opposites, yet can’t exist without each other.

Their differences have caused misunderstandings and it has taken them awhile to straighten them and work out a language of their own. It consists of small gestures like a look from Ohno, a tug from Sho or a slight hunch of their shoulders with meanings that are hidden in the depths of their hearts. It’s a language that only the two of them understand and it’s more than enough than enough for them.

“I used the same hand to help Nino come just now,” Ohno says nonchalantly, like he’s talking about the weather. The images from the morning attack Sho with full on ferocity and he comes with a loud mewl, collapsing into Ohno’s strong arms.

In the shower stall next to them, Jun comes too.

 

 

***

 

 

**1200  
Fuji Television Building: Arashi Green Room **

“Aiba, shush,” Nino complains as Aiba reads out loud the details about the meeting he’ll have later with the Tensai Shimura Zoo staff. “I’m playing a game here.”

“But I absorb better when I read out loud!” Aiba retorts.

“Then read more softly!” Nino replies back.

“But then I can’t hear myself! Then I can’t absorb!”

“Dig your ears then,” Nino says as he pauses his game and reaches over to Aiba to snatch the papers (noticeably dog-eared and crumpled) from his hands.

“Give me back my documents!” Aiba protests loudly.

Nino ignores Aiba, who stands up noisily to try to snatch his papers back. Nino dodges Aiba’s wandering hands exaggeratedly as he flips through the pages, musing out loud on how terrible Aiba’s handwriting at the side is.

“Stop drawing on the pages with the highlighter! They’re my notes!” Aiba flails his protest.

“Idiot, pages 1-10 have nothing to do with you, you just need to read pages 12-20,” Nino says, and Aiba is suddenly kissing paper.

Stupid Nino, Aiba thinks to himself as he reads the preparatory work again. Nino, always the speed reader, has highlighted the sections that he deems important for Aiba to read.

“I know you love me,” Nino says before Aiba can contribute his input, fingers jamming at his game when he senses that the other man is going to declare his everlasting affection for him.

“I love you!” Aiba says anyway because he really does love Nino.

Nino, who picks up his lonely calls at 3am in the morning. Nino, who always laughs at him but always ends up being his partner in crime. Nino, who always helps him out in a roundabout way because he doesn’t like to be obvious about his affections, and Nino, who always listens to him when he’s insecure and scared out of his wits. When Aiba thinks about his life, he realizes that he can see traces of the shorter man everywhere. He wonders if he would be who he is right now without Nino, his best friend who is always supporting him in his own way.

“Yes yes, I love you, too,” Nino says, trying to sound as if he’s saying it just to placate Aiba’s overenthusiasm.

However, inwardly, Nino delights in how Aiba always argues back instead of apologizing immediately. It’s friendly banter, he knows, but he also knows how Aiba usually apologises first in an argument, whether he’s in the wrong or not. He likes it that Aiba trusts him enough to retort back at him and demand things from him. Like everyone else, Nino also loves Aiba’s energy and enthusiasm; how Aiba agrees to hang out with him every time he calls and needs someone for company. Aiba’s kindness, the tears he sheds for other people, the sympathy he shows even to lost kittens on the street, they all move Nino in a way that nothing else ever will. Nino has always thought of himself as a mean person – a devil, maybe – and of Aiba as an angel, unsuspecting and thinking the best of everyone.

This is why Nino will never regret his first kiss with Aiba, the two of them squished together on his family’s couch, under the gentle moonlight coming through the window and the theme of Dragon Quest playing in the background. They were 15.

Aiba and Nino. Nino and Aiba.

The two that are always together.

 

 

***

 

 

**1200-1400  
A Magazine Publisher’s Building: Arashi Photoshoot and Interview **

It’s not an easy job, posing for cameras the way the photographers want. Their jaws feel sore from all the smiling and their eyes hurt from the flashes. Sometimes they wish they could take a break, away from the cameras, away from the peering eyes, but they never regret being idols. They know that the fact that people want to interview and photograph them means that they are still relevant. They know that their fans – people who go to their concerts, buy their CDs and watch their shows – want to see them, and they want to fulfill those wishes, to at least put a smile on their faces. When framed this way, suddenly everything is worth it.

They move on to the next interview. After a whole list of typical idol questions – _What do you look for in a girlfriend, What have you done in your free time, Who do you like the best in Arashi_ – the interviewer ends the section with a surprising question.

“Do you guys ever feel lonely?”

Ohno simply looks like he hasn’t heard the question while Sho and Jun appear to be engaged in a thinking contest about the best answer to give. Aiba is about to blurt out his answer when Nino speaks.

“Five is not a lonely number.”

 

 

***

 

 

**1700  
Various Physical Locations: Arashi Chat Group **

**Jun:** TBS’s vending machines sell bad coffee.  
 **Aiba:** REALLY? I’LL MAKE JUN SPECIAL AIBA COFFEE.  
 **Jun:** No thanks. And aren't you at Tensai’s meeting?  
 **Aiba:** IT’S BRAEK TIME.  
 **Sho:** Did you mean “break”?  
 **Aiba:** BRAEK, BREAK, THEY MEAN THE SAME THING. MATSUJUN SHOULDN’T DRINK SO MUCH COFFEE.  
 **Sho:** Aiba, when you type in caps, it means you are shouting.  
 **Jun:** I am quite sure we have had this conversation before.  
 **Aiba:** WHR IS NINO?  
 **Jun:** Nino is filming until 7.  
 **Aiba:** JUN RMBS OUR TIMETABLE!  
 **Jun:** Stop shouting.  
 **Ohno:** I finished a drawing of a cat this morning.

In the end, no one bothers about Jun’s coffee woes but he still feels loved by his bandmates’ almost immediate reply to his message. Not that he will admit that out loud. Jun may be having a production meeting with staff that he has worked with before, but he knows that it is with Arashi that he feels at home. He doesn’t tell his bandmates how stressed he feels about the expectations people are piling on him or how much work his new drama is going to add to his schedule because everyone in the band goes through it at one point or another. He knows he can and _will_ cope, but sometimes he just needs a little reassurance in the form of Sho’s sufferings, Aiba’s overenthusiasm, Nino’s snarks, and Ohno’s presence.

Jun’s always amazed at how one line from Ohno can alter his mood for the better. Right now, he feels torn between wanting to grab Ohno and comment on how pointless he is, and getting annoyed at how Ohno has ignored the conversation at hand. But he can do neither; Ohno’s waves of calm have washed away all his anger.

 

 

***

 

**1930**  
TBS Building: Drama Filming Studio (Nino)  
In Car: On way to meet athlete for dinner (Sho)

 **Nino:** I really like the shirt you’re wearing today, Sho-chan.  
 **Sho:** What?  
 **Nino:** It shows off your arms’ muscles really well, I wish I could touch them.  
 **Sho:** Nino. Are you initiating a sex-text here?  
 **Nino:** Would you prefer a sex call instead?

(A long pause later)

Sho: Wait, I’ll call you.

Sho is always so easy, Nino thinks to himself. Sakurai Sho, the newscaster, the Keio graduate every girl wants to marry. The reliable man. The presentable man. The _perfect_ man. But Nino will always remember him as the boy who pierced his ears and bellybutton because he wanted to be cool. Sho, to Nino, will always be the boy whose death stare during exam period was more piercing than Jun’s, and the boy who pushed him against the wall in one of NTV’s dressing rooms to have his way with him. Sho can go on and on about being prim and proper because the more he does that, the more joy it brings Nino to tear those façades down and pull out the beast within.

Smirking to himself, Nino takes a picture of his collarbones that peek out from his shirt and sends it to Sho.

 

 

***

 

 

Sho stops his car at a carpark nearby, thankful that he took Matsujun’s advice and installed those tinted windows. Even before he’s done parking, his phone rings with a picture message. Sho stares at Nino’s collarbones peeping through his way too loose shirt and tries to fight the desire to pull at that shirt and run his tongue along the whole length of the bone. Swallowing deeply, he tries to remind himself that he is a 30 year old man and not a hormonal teenager. But he also knows that Nino is a little devil who will not hesitate to use all the cards he has to his advantage.

“Nino, what are you doing?” Sho demands into the phone the moment the other man picks up.

“Nothing,” Nino says, too easily. “That’s why I’m bored.”

“Bored enough to send me…” Sho replies, and Nino almost laughs at the scandalized look that he knows is on Sho’s face. He’ll let Sho pretend to be a prude for a little while longer.

“Do you not like it, do you not like touching my collarbones, Sho-chan?’ Nino asks, pretending to sound rejected. Sho’s not stupid and he knows what exactly Nino is driving at, but he still can’t help but harden at the mere thought - exactly like Nino wants.

“I like it when Sho-chan touches my collarbones,” Nino continues and makes a noise that sounds a lot like a moan. Sho is quite sure that on the other side of the phone, Nino’s short fingers are caressing his own collarbones and the image itself makes Sho gasp. He can imagine Nino’s eyes staring at him, begging for him to touch him, and he grips the phone harder in response. Somewhere at the back of his mind, his logic is trying to tell him that Nino is playing him and pressing his buttons on purpose.

“Nino,” Sho says instead, voice down an octave as his free hand moves over to unbutton his top, “Take off your shirt,”

But lust always wins over logic.

And Nino always wins.

The younger man makes a pleased sound, a sound of victory. He loves how Sho always sounds so reluctant at first but gives in in the end to take matters into his own hands. Nino can imagine the primitive desire clouding over Sho’s bright eyes as he still desperately tries to fight it off. _So hot._

“I’ll lick at your collar bones,” Sho says, “I’ll lick a trail from one end to the other and you can feel the cold moisture where my tongue has been on them.”

“Yes,” Nino purrs into the phone, and Sho continues, distinctly feeling his own erection’s demands to be set free.

“And I’ll suck my way down to your nipples, and play with one of them with my tongue. I’ll use my other hand to pinch the other nipple, teasing it until it’s pink.”

Nino groans as he lets his own fingers play with his nipple pretending that it is Sho’s longer fingers that are on it. He breathes out in response, “And I’ll spread my legs and rock against you so that you will feel how hard I am for you.”

With that, Nino is rewarded with the deep sound of Sho’s moan through the speakers. He can feel the sound travel through the back of his spine and then downwards, culminating in his hardening arousal.

“I’ll make you suck on my fingers, looking at you as I do so, and then use that wet finger to draw a line from your nipple to your bellybutton. But I won’t move lower, only lingering around your pants.”

“Don’t tease, Sho, don’t,” Nino says, almost begging, and Sho loves how breathless he sounds. He laughs dirtily in response, a laugh that is reserved only for when they’re alone, and Sho’s thinking of the different ways he can fuck Nino.

“Well, then you’ll have to do something, Kazunari.”

Nino makes a loud noise of approval at the use of his given name.

“I’ll pull your pants down, then your boxers. Then I’ll take you into my mouth, Sho. I’ll suck you like I sucked Leader this morning. I’ll take you deep – deep enough that you can feel my throat.”

Sho kicks his pants and boxers off and rubs himself, imagining how Nino’s fringe will stick to his wet forehead and how his brown eyes will sparkle through his bangs as he stares at Sho, lips around his cock.

“Then I’ll prepare you while you suck,” Sho says, his voice trembling under the weight of his arousal. “You’ll be so tight, Kazu, trying to clamp down on my finger. I’ll insert two fingers in you quickly to scissor you open but you’re greedy and you’ll still want more. So I’ll put a third finger in, fucking you with them.”

Sho knows that his words are well received by the sounds Nino’s making over the phone. He feels bold as he continues, “But I’m going to take my fingers out.“

Nino whines in displeasure over the phone.

“So that I can fuck you, hard and fast,” Sho continues over Nino’s beautiful whine, and Nino fingers himself, imagining that it is Sho that is inside him, filling him up and stretching him. On the other side of the phone, Sho strokes his own erection faster with his free hand while thinking about the tightness of Nino’s hole and how it squeezes against his arousal. As Nino pleads over the phone, Sho thinks about how difficult it will be to move in Nino’s tightness and how satisfying it will feel before he comes with a choked noise of completion. Nino, balancing the phone between his head and shoulders, uses his other hand to relieve himself and comes soon after, while Sho is still basking in the afterglow.

 

 

***

 

 

“You and Ohno will cause the death of me,” Sho complains.

Nino laughs and hangs up, “Director’s calling!”

Sho smiles at the dial tone, knowing that it’s always the things that Nino doesn’t say that matter the most.

 

 

***

 

 

**2030  
TBS Building: Jun and Aiba’s Green Room **

Aiba is a ball of energy - a ball of nervous energy rather than the usual excited one as he and Jun wait for recording to start. Jun can see how Aiba’s hands tremble slightly as he jumps from one activity to another and tries in vain to start yet another conversation with Jun.

“Look, Jun-kun!” exclaims Aiba as he places himself right beside Jun on the couch, sitting down hard enough for the couch to bounce slightly at the newly added weight. He then, somehow, proceeds to accidentally kick himself on the leg of the couch.

“Ouch!” He says reaching to rub at the sore spot as he continues quickly. “It’s Sho-chan’s interview!”

Jun cannot resist the urge to gently hit Aiba’s head with the book in his hand before leaving it on the table. He bends down and reaches for Aiba’s leg, rubbing softly at the reddened part of his skin before assuring him that he will be fine.

Aiba smiles back at him.

It’s the way the smile doesn't look happy at all that unsettles Jun. He meets Aiba’s eyes and the slight desperation reflected in them is enough for Jun to place his own hand on top of Aiba’s.

“Something is wrong,” Jun says.

“I’m okay, very okay!” Aiba says, putting way too much emphasis on “very”.

“You’re nervous today,” Jun says matter-of-factly, “And a very bad liar.”

“I’m really okay!” Aiba insists until Jun places both his hands on Aiba’s cheeks to guide his face so that they are looking at each other.

“You are not,” Jun says, staring into Aiba’s eyes as he does so. “So many years together and you still think you can lie to me.”

Aiba tries to avoid his gaze by looking away and Jun moves his face closer to Aiba’s so that their foreheads touch. He can feel Aiba’s rapid breathing on his skin as he lets one of his hands slide down from Aiba’s cheek to rest at his heart, feeling its frantic beating against his own hand.

“Masaki,” Jun begins, slowly. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s just…” Aiba starts, closing his eyes as he does so. He is quite sure Jun’s going to scold him again, “I feel so useless. I overheard people talking about how stupid I am. They were saying that now that I’m approaching thirty I need to start being more mature and…”

Jun’s lips on his own cut off his last words. The younger man’s tongue escapes from his lips, and licks at Aiba’s, requesting permission to enter. Aiba’s chapped lips (Jun makes a mental note to remind him to drink more water later) part for him and his tongue tries to seek out Aiba’s. The older man is a little hesitant, like he doesn’t really want Jun to know how scared he is. Jun’s tongue ventures deeper, coaxing Aiba’s out from its hiding place in the caverns of his mouth. He knows that it’s going to be difficult to put his feelings into words and hopes that Aiba will understand it anyway as his tongue glides over the other’s.

Because for Jun, Aiba will never be useless in Arashi – heck, he will never be useless to anyone. Sure, Aiba’s clumsy and messes up his kanji all the time, but he’s also the purest person that Jun has ever met. Aiba loves with all his being and holds nothing back, even if it ends up hurting him in the end. He’s persistent and determined when he loves, breaking barrier after barrier to reach a person’s heart, to reach the humanity hidden within even the most unlikable people.

Work-wise, Aiba tries as hard as everyone else, if not harder, just so that he won’t be the weakest link in the band. He willingly puts himself up to be laughed at, letting other Arashi members call him stupid and thinking of ways to make Arashi’s variety shows funnier, _better_. Jun has always thought of Aiba as the soul that holds Arashi together, the _A_ in Arashi. He hates it when he tries to tell Aiba how important he is to the band and Aiba brushes it away with a laugh, a declaration of love or an exaggerated speech about how cool Jun is. He wants Aiba to know, intimately, how important he is because the eyebags underneath his eyes from supposed holidays and tears that he sheds by himself in the bathroom while scolding himself stupid break Jun’s heart over and over again.

Jun loves it the best when Aiba laughs, as the sound of his laughter always reminds him of angels playing in heaven. To know that anyone is trying to rob that precious laughter away makes Jun’s blood boil in rage. To know that these people make Aiba feel so small and insecure makes him feel like his own heart is being ripped out of his chest. No one, Jun vows to himself, is allowed to make Aiba sad.

When their lips part, Aiba lets his head lie on Jun’s chest and he mumbles against his clothes, “Today’s guest is a big shot, right? What if I say something wrong again?”

“You’ll be okay,” Jun tells him.

“What if I offend her?” Aiba continues and bites his lips. Jun puts his hand on Aiba’s head and lets his fingers run through his hair comfortingly, hearing the older man’s thoughts loud and clear in his mind - what if I do something wrong, what if she ends up thinking all of Arashi are as rude as I am, what if she gets really upset and the whole show doesn’t go on. Jun wants to will all those thoughts to stop, because these are the exact same thoughts that are always running through his own head.

Sometimes Jun thinks that he and Aiba are more alike than different.

“Listen, Masaki,” Jun whispers, eyes fixed at a point on the white wall as he does so, “We’ll be fine. We’ve been doing variety shows for years. We can do this.”

“What if I’m not good enough again?” Aiba whispers.

“We may not be good enough alone, but we will be, together.”

 

 

***

 

 

Jun feels Aiba’s hands going underneath his shirt and he stares at Aiba. All he gets in response for his unworded question is a chuckle and Aiba shifting himself closer to Jun so that Jun can feel Aiba’s need against his thigh. The younger man doesn’t understand how Aiba can get himself so worked up just from cuddling, but it’s happened enough times that Jun has filed it away as it being simply _Aiba_.

As he pulls Jun’s shirt off from his neck, revealing his upper torso, Aiba wonders, for the millionth time, what he has done in his past lives to be in Arashi and to win the affections of _the_ Matsumoto Jun. He leans in to kiss at Jun’s neck and nips lightly downwards, thinking about how nice Jun always smells and how good he always tastes. Sho has always said that Aiba has a weird logic, and maybe that’s why Aiba has never really been scared of Jun. To him, Jun is a lover and healer. Every time Jun hits him and calls him an idiot, Aiba registers it as an expression of Jun’s affections. _He must have so much love for me that he cannot express it like other people do,_ he concludes in his head. He tried to tell that to Jun once, and it resulted in Jun raising an eyebrow and then proceeding to whack him on his arm.

Aiba will always remember the times when Jun visited him in the hospital, the times Jun made him breakfast and the times Jun shared his herbal tea for Aiba’s pollen allergies. Jun’s the one who goes to him and tells him off for pretending to be okay (there’s Nino too, Aiba remembers, but Jun always does it more gently than Nino). He keeps recalling how good Jun is to him as he sucks gently on Jun’s body and his heart swells with more love the more he thinks. Sometimes Aiba wonders if Jun is like his special guardian angel sent from above, watching over him all the time.

 

 

***

 

 

“Matsujun, can I fuck you today?” Aiba asks and Jun brushes Aiba’s hair aside as he nods.

“We don’t have much time though,”

Aiba smiles – a proper one this time- as he reaches for Jun’s bag and grabs hold of the condom and lube before throwing Jun’s bag aside. He is quite sure Jun’s scowling at him but he’s too preoccupied to bother about that as he spreads Jun’s legs and stares at Jun’s half-hard erection. He’ll have to be really quick this time, he thinks to himself as he coats his fingers with lube and puts in two at once, watching as Jun’s eyes widen with surprise at the intrusion. He quickly adds a third as Jun’s legs open even further for him and he concentrates on finding Jun’s prostate so that he can make Jun feel good. When his fingers graze past a bundle of nerves that make Jun gasp audibly, Aiba grins in victory. He curls his fingers so that they hit the spot better, reveling in how Jun repeats his name like a chant as he moves his fingers in and out, mimicking his cock fucking Jun.

Jun grabs Aiba by his arm, pulls him upwards and reaches for the condom that was left lying around by the older man earlier on. He tears the packaging open with his teeth and rolls it on Aiba’s already leaking cock, delighting himself with the sounds Aiba makes when his hands come into the slightest contact with Aiba’s arousal.

Pulling Jun’s legs even further apart and forcefully resisting the urge to comment on how flexible the younger one is (Jun tells him to shut up anyway, knowing exactly what Aiba has wanted to say), Aiba positions himself in front of Jun’s entrance and pushes himself in. Jun grips Aiba’s arm tightly – in pain this time – and Aiba controls his urge to move until Jun is adjusted to him. When Jun finally gives him the signal to go, Aiba pours his whole self into fucking Jun, feeling Jun’s inviting tightness around his cock, which draws him deeper and deeper. He lets his instincts take over and lets sensations wash over him as he thrusts, in and out, in and out of Jun’s hole, fuelled by the wanton sounds that Jun can’t stop making. Jun touches himself when he knows he’s getting close and they both spill over the edge almost together.

 

 

***

 

 

“So what’s this thing about Sho that you were talking about earlier?” Jun asks after he has cleaned both himself and Aiba with the wet wipes that are always in his bag.

“He mentioned us! He talked about wow we’re important to him!” Aiba says, beaming wide enough to make the room as bright as a million suns.

 

 

***

 

 

**2200  
In Car: On the way To A restaurant (Nino)**

Nino has a late dinner appointment with the producer of an upcoming movie. His manager drops him, well-disguised, at the doorstep of the restaurant and promises to pick him up at 12.30. As he walks across the restaurant to the private room that the producer has booked, he can sense the patrons’ eyes on him. He knows that his disguise is perfect and no one knows who he is, but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s being judged. Nino tightens his coat around himself instinctively.

It partially reminds him of the reason why he hates going out.

Nino’s job for the past 15 years of his life has involved people staring at him and making comments about him. He should be used to all of this, but once in a while his past catches up with him. He thinks that he can never forget the eyes of his tormentors when he was a child, laughing at him, pushing him onto the mud, and writing awful things in his notebooks. Maybe one of the patrons in the restaurant is one of those who used to do those things to him. Maybe one day if he stops being popular, all of them will laugh at him in his face. He feels his heart go a little cold at the thought and snaps himself out of it. There is work to do, he reminds himself as he wills the negative thoughts away.

He smiles at the man inside, apologizing for his lateness as he removes his disguise.

“I am Ninomiya.”

An idol from Johnny’s & Associates.

 

 

***

 

 

**0030  
Outside the Restaurant For Nino’s Meeting **

Nino finds his manager’s car waiting for him outside punctually. He gets into the front seat quickly and the car whisks off. It is only at the first traffic junction that Nino realizes it isn’t his manager sitting at the drivers’ seat.

“Jun-kun?” He says, shock and warmth in his voice.

“Err... yeah?”

Nino laughs and Jun tells him to stop.

Jun is adorable when he’s embarrassed. And flustered. Nino laughs even louder as Jun’s pleas get more desperate. He finally decides to bite his lips to try to stop laughing after five minutes of teasing and turns to look at Jun properly. The windows are tinted, but the streetlights that shine through them fall beautifully on Jun’s face. Nino can see Jun’s expressive eyes, seemingly shining under the illumination. The orange light gives Jun’s silhouette a slightly melancholic hue and it makes Nino want to look at him even more. He leans in a little closer and looks a little harder to search for the moles on Jun’s face which, instead of marring his face, make him even more attractive.

“Stop staring,” Jun complains. Nino chuckles and complies. He turns away to look outside the window, pondering about the contradictions of a person whose job is for people to admire and who is yet so scared of people staring at him. He decides in the next instant that it’s too sad to think about things like this and turns his thoughts to Jun instead.

The funny thing about Jun is that he doesn't seem to understand his own appeal to Nino, or anyone else for that matter. He always looks at Nino skeptically when Nino says that Jun shines like a star on television, like Nino is trying to just say something interesting that might attract the viewers' attention and does not actually mean what he’s saying. At those times, Nino wants to pull Jun close and tell him that no, he means every single word of every compliment that he showers Jun with. And more.

All he wants is for Jun to accept it.

Accept that he is like fire and Nino is drawn to him like a moth.

Jun thinks that he deserves none of these praises because in his eyes, Nino is one of the most talented persons he knows. Nino writes songs that touch people's hearts effortlessly while Jun spends ridiculous amounts of time with research, word choices, editing, and can’t even hope to be anywhere near Nino’s standard. Jun seems to scare away most of the people that meet him for the first time while Nino knows exactly how to read people and make the ones who have never met him before feel as at ease as they are at home. Nino also knows how to get people out of situations, sometimes in the most roundabout way possible so that he doesn’t hurt the pride of the person he’s trying to help. Jun only wishes that he had just half of Nino’s talents.

Sometimes he wishes that he could tell all that to Nino, tell him exactly how impressed he is by Nino, but as he tries to form the words in his mouth, he realizes that none of the words that he chooses can possibly encapsulate the essence of what he loves about the other man.

 _Kazunari,_ he lets Nino’s given name echo in his head like a quiet prayer.

Jun is in love, so in love.

 

 

***

 

 

Jun’s car stops outside Nino’s apartment complex and Nino cocks his eyes to Jun as a silent invitation for him to come up. Jun shakes his head, “I need to return the car to the manager,”

“Didn’t you have Himitsu filming earlier?”

Then he stops short, looking at Jun for a while, and everything falls into place as he berates himself for being slow today. The car, Jun’s embarrassment, the need to go back. _Oh._ Nino should have known.

Nino is not a nice person, he has admitted it various times in interviews. On the other hand, Jun is like cold tofu, freezing on the outside but the moment you touch him, you can feel the incredible softness that the external coldness cannot hide. He thinks Jun is wasting his kindness on him, someone who doesn’t deserve it at all. Go shower that on Aiba, he sometimes wants to tell Jun. Aiba deserves it way more than he does.

But today, just for today, Nino lets his emotions take over and lets himself drown in the sea of Jun’s kindness. He pulls Jun close to give him a chaste kiss on his lips, feeling Jun’s eyes flutter close in surprise before he returns the kiss with a peck on Nino’s nose.

“See you tomorrow,” Nino says.

Thank you, he means.

 

 

***

 

  

**200  
Jun’s Apartment **

Just as Jun is getting ready to sleep, his phone lights up with a new message. He grabs his glasses to read it, to find that it only contains a picture. A quick sketch, done by Ohno, of a car with only the driver and the front seat passenger. The way the passenger curls up in his seat and the shape of his eyes tell Jun that it is Nino. The driver, Jun realizes, looks distinctly like him, complete with his cheekbones and other sharp features. It is only a quick doodle, but the way Ohno has shaded it has made Jun look somewhat… beautiful.

He stares at the picture for a long time before turning off the lights.

 

 

***

 

 

**230  
Sho’s Apartment **

Sho reaches home after NEWS ZERO filming to find a pair of shoes that don’t belong to him at the doorway. He peeks in to see Aiba’s shape sprawled out on his couch, hugging a bolster while watching television.

Sho sighs as it looks like his original plan of researching about next week’s interviews will have to be shelved for tonight. For Sho, organization is the key to life. His schedule book is always full, he squeezes enough appointments with different people - athletes, journalists, idols, fellow newscasters etc - in the small amount of free time he has in between his full time job as an idol. Everyone has 24 hours, he always thinks, surely there is enough time to do everything if he plans it well enough and doesn’t waste any time. It is this faith in planning that has helped him cope with his high school examinations and his college life.

But Aiba has always been the one trying to shatter his organized life into pieces.

Aiba doesn't have an organizer and regularly needs prompting as he forgets his own schedule. He shows up at members’ houses whenever he likes and upsets Sho's neatly planned timetable all the time. Sho should be upset (very upset) about this development but instead, he lets Aiba topple his carefully ordered life with his sudden dinner dates, illogical experiments and random phone calls. Uncertainty throws Sho into a frenzy - it still does - but with Aiba, he has come to realize that there is a value in spontaneity and it is worth the extra time that he will need to put in to replace the time that he has lost. Aiba has taught him how to _live_ and that in itself is more important than anything else he has in his schedule.

Aiba spots Sho approaching from the front door and throws the bolster aside to run towards Sho. Aiba loves how Sho always forgives him when he does something wrong, loves how Sho always looks at him with those warm eyes, loves how Sho always lets him do what he wants, even if he may not approve of it. He has a theory, that Sho has sloped shoulders because of the amount of work he places on them and the amount of time he spent bending over his schoolwork when he was younger. When he told that to Sho, Sho did not buy it and went on and on about how his shoulders are a matter of genetics and continued to explain the mechanics of genetic crossing works to Aiba. Most of it went above Aiba’s head, but he delighted in the way Sho’s eyes brightened up as he lectured like a professor.

Aiba throws himself against Sho, enveloping him in a big hug, and Sho grasps onto the wall to prevent himself from falling.

“Welcome home, Sho-chan!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> For: kitto_slutparty 2012. Betaed by: Isa. Special thanks to Amaya for handholding.


End file.
